Conversion of Space to Garbage Will Be Prevented by Wooden Satellites

As humanity, we have been launching satellites into space for various purposes for about 70 years. When it comes to satellite, a similar visual comes to mind for almost everyone; a metal box. Of course, that’s a pretty simple definition, but that’s roughly the picture.

But the space junk created by the numerous satellites launched is one of the most important discussion items in recent years. Fortunately, a research team from Japan has taken a rather interesting step that could be a solution to this problem.

Strange as it may sound, the solution is wooden satellites;

Space is a pretty brutal place once you stop looking at it from the romantic side. Naturally, all the spacecraft and satellites we send there must be made of durable materials. Even so, no one thought of using wood as a material.

However, the research team carrying out a project called LignoSat in Japan started working on the idea that wood could be used as a flexible, durable and lightweight material with a creative perspective. Of course there is a specific tree they are working on; magnolia tree and wood derived from it.

It is thought that the giant space garbage accumulating in our orbit will no longer be a problem if wooden satellites are put into practice. Because when the satellites enter the atmosphere and start to burn, some parts left behind can be stuck in their own mini-orbits in the space without burning, and this causes them to become a part of the giant space junk over time. However, as you can imagine, this is not the case for a wooden material.

Experiments have demonstrated the durability of the magnolia tree;

As part of the project, sample wooden pieces were placed around a module on the International Space Station. The parts, which were exposed to high radiation and tested in space for 290 days, were brought back to earth and examined.

Inspections and durability tests revealed that no deformation, deterioration or damage was detected in the specimen wood pieces. The team will continue testing in a mission to be carried out in 2024 in partnership with NASA and JAXA. In addition, various investigations will be carried out to understand whether there is damage at the nanoscale.

However, the data obtained so far reveal that wood is a promising material, especially for small and medium-sized satellites, which are quite numerous.